Train derailment to disrupt LIRR commute

Two cars of a commuter train derailed as they headed under the Hudson River in New York on Tuesday, briefly stranding hundreds of passengers and snarling rail traffic throughout the Northeast for the rest of the day and into the evening rush hour.

The accident forced authorities to shut down one of the two rail tunnels used by Amtrak and New Jersey Transit trains between Manhattan and New Jersey. Both inbound and outbound trains were sharing the remaining tunnel, said Cliff Cole, an Amtrak spokesman.

The New Jersey Transit train was leaving New York’s Pennsylvania Station for Trenton, N.J. when the last two cars of the 10-car train jumped their rails around 8 a.m., transit spokeswoman Courtney Carroll said. The cars were unoccupied and remained upright, and no one was injured, she said.

The 300 passengers were transferred to another train by 9:18 a.m., she said. The accident happened before the rail lines narrow to one track to enter the tunnel, so the second train was able to pull alongside the disabled train on a parallel track. The rescue train then continued on toward Trenton.

Both New Jersey Transit and the Long Island Rail Road warned its passengers that delays would last through the evening rush hour. The LIRR has a terminal inside Penn Station and uses tracks under the station to move its trains from a storage yard on the west side of Manhattan.

“Delayed, cancelled, there’s a lot of that going on. Uh-oh, there goes mine,” she said, as DELAYED appeared next to her train to Paoli, Pa.

On the New Jersey side of the river, thousands of morning commuters saw their trains rerouted to Hoboken, where they boarded ferries and Port Authority Trans Hudson trains to Manhattan.

Commuters using the Midtown Direct service to northern New Jersey would have to take the same detour for the trip home Tuesday evening, New Jersey Transit said. The Northeast Corridor and New Jersey Coast Lines would operate limited service to and from Penn Station during the evening rush hour, with delays of up to 90 minutes. It warned passengers to expect crowded trains.

Amtrak was reporting delays of up to 30 minutes on its routes between Boston and Washington. It said its Keystone service through Pennsylvania would temporarily operate only between Philadelphia and Harrisburg as it tried to work out the delays.

The Long Island Rail Road warned its passengers to expect train cancellations, track changes and delays at Penn Station. Service from the Atlantic Terminal in Brooklyn and Hunterspoint Avenue in Queens would be unaffected, it said.

In the New Jersey Transit waiting area at Penn Station, Arthur Lundquist, 54, traced his finger down a printed timetable as workers in yellow vests moved through a crowd of commuters, informing them of new delays. Lundquist, who lives in New York, had planned to go to Maplewood, N.J., to help a friend baby-sit.

“Well, my plans for the day are canceled,” Lundquist said finally and folded up the timetable. “I guess he’ll be baby-sitting by himself.”

Amtrak and New Jersey Transit authorities have long complained that more tunnels under the Hudson are needed to avoid delays when something goes wrong.

In October, a plan to dig another tunnel was shelved after New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie balked at the $9 billion to $14 billion price tag.